


Lasting Repercussions

by Em_the_Lion



Category: Trollhunters (Cartoon), Trollhunters - Daniel Kraus & Guillermo del Toro
Genre: Angst, Decimar Blade, Gunmar is a dick, Jim deserves better, Mental Link, Not sure what I'm doing with this yet, Poor Jim, Psychic Bond, troll!jim
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-26
Updated: 2019-03-07
Packaged: 2019-04-26 13:51:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14403474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Em_the_Lion/pseuds/Em_the_Lion
Summary: During his escape from the Darklands, Jim is touched by the power of the Decimar Blade. And though, with the help of his friends, they are all able to escape through the bridge, the Trollhunters may find that the mysterious weapon may have more serious effects than they could ever imagine...Picks up near the end of "Homecoming". An au in which Blinky, Aaarrrgh!, and the rest of the gang arrive to Jim’s aid just a few seconds too late. Probable Troll!Jim, but I'm not sure yet.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, this was the product of a random burst of inspiration and a couple hours of nonstop drafting with some lovely Gregorian chant in the background to focus. I really love Trollhunters and have been wanting to do some writing on it for some time. Of course, I've never really done any serious fanfiction before, so please do be patient with me.  
> Enjoy!

The clash of metal against stone resounded in Jim’s ears as he watched Nomura engage the heinous vestige of Gunmar the Black. Her fluorescent scimitar became a blazing onslaught of light against the crumbling obsidian skin of the Dark underlord. An impressive display of acrobatic skill sent her slick form ricochetting this way and that above his head, managing to swiftly evade nearly every single one of his attacks. 

He could hear Toby and Claire calling for him from over the cliffside, down which he had helped them start- at least before he was caught by a haphazard swat of Gunmar’s stony tail, which had sent him sprawling back onto the precarious overhang, where he now lay with nowhere to go but past the dueling trolls or over the cliff’s edge. He focused his strength, pouring what little energy he had left from his perilous misadventure into willing the the eclipse amulet which shone crimson upon his breast to manifest its blade into his hand, but to no avail. The vague figure of the dark steel began to take shape in his hand before faltering and evaporating into red vapors of light. A clash drew his attention back towards the base of the cliff, where Nomura and Gunmar had once again locked swords.

Gunmar let out a frustrated gnar. “You do not deserve my blade,” he snarled and with a swift jerk of his horns he hurled her back across the length of the cliff into the wall of stone that began the terrain’s next steeping ascent, where she collapsed, momentarily dazed. Before she could even regain her senses, he hoisted a boulder twice his size over his head and cast it down upon her. A screech of pain rose from behind the stone under which she was now concealed.

Then Gunmar finally turned his attention to Jim.

Jim tried again at conjuring the Eclipse blade with about as much success as his previous attempt, and ultimately found himself scurrying backwards, trying desperately to put as much distance between himself and the imposing creature that now was drawing ever closer. A poisonous smile came to Gunmar’s face as Jim reached the edge of the crag, thus entirely exhausting the last of what ground he had to give.

“I have waited centuries,” he rumbled, brandishing the edge of his insidious sword, “Tell me… Where is the Bridge?” 

He had asked this several times before, in the arena, before he sent Jim to do battle with another one of his wretched creatures of war and Jim had always told him the same thing, though it varied between silence, a simple “no”, or an occasional “go suck rocks”. This time, however, Gunmar did not await an answer but immediately brought the Decimar Blade towards Jim’s face. 

The effect was immediate. The pull of the Blade’s power weighed on him  like the mass of one thousand Nyarlagroths.

“No!” Jim cried, trying with all his might to turn his face away from the sword’s range of influence. But the blade would not allow it. The Eclipse amulet sprung to life, spurred on by the newly-wrot distress of its master, summoning the bicorned helm of the Trollhunter, which had successfully been able to protect Jim from Gunmar and his Blade before. And while this did help ease the pull of the blade on Jim’s mind, he could still feel it’s influence through the mask, could feel the unyielding pressure with which Gunmar was urging him to submit, and for a moment he heard a voice, Gunmar’s voice, in his head.

_ Tell me... _

“No!” he cried again, his exclamation muffled by the helmet.

The pressure then suddenly laid off, allowing for Jim to turn away and open the facemask to breathe.

“Your armor will not protect you for long,” said Gunmar, panting at the effort that using his blade with such intensity usually brought, growing more and more audibly angry. “If you do not tell me, then I will turn you all! You must tell me!”

For a moment Jim’s mind strayed to the nightmare of Toby, or Claire, or Blinky, or Aaarrrgh!, or Draal facing the tip of Gunmar’s blade, feeling his blood thicken at the very thought.

But the image did not linger for long, for the pull was back. Jim’s mask closed again, not before his head was snapped around again by the force of the blade’s magic. 

He faintly heard Claire’s voice, panicked and desperate: “Jim! Hold on!” But it was joined and eventually drowned out by Gunmar’s echoing tones again in his mind.

_ Tell me! _

“No!” 

Again, the pull subsided but only for a brief instant, long enough for Jim to begin to think that Gunmar may have started to wear himself out.

Oh how wrong he was.

Like a blow to the head, Gunmar’s will smashed against his own. Even worse, Jim felt the cold musky air of the darklands upon his face as the mask of his helmet disintegrated into crimson embers, followed closely by the helmet itself. Relentless and unstoppable the blade’s force lay itself upon Jim’s unprotected mind.

_ Give in Trollhunter…,   _ Gunmar’s voice now whispered unabated in his conscious.  _ Give in and become mine… _

Jim vaguely recalled Gunmar’s words before his first fight in the arena.  _ “The Trollhunter, our greatest enemy, will take my son’s place! I will break his armor and remake him! He will be our Dark Champion!” _

No… No. He couldn’t. He couldn’t give in then and he couldn’t give in now. He had been right, before. His friends had come for him. Nomura was fighting with him. They were so close to getting out! So close… 

_ But you were close before, weren’t you? _ The thought wormed its way through, whether by Jim’s own volition or by that of the sword, it was becoming hard to tell.  _ You were so close before, with the changeling child, but you still did not succeed. You failed. _

It was right. He had failed. It was because he had failed that his friends had to come save him in the first place, it was why they were all in danger now. The pull of the blade intensified, and Jim began to roar with the effort of resisting. Still, the voice picked away in his mind.

_ You failed to the doom of yourself and the doom of all… And do you want to know why? _

“ _ No, _ ” Jim wanted to say, “ _ I want you to get out of my head _ ” but his own thoughts no longer held authority in his conscience.

_ It was because the path of your success lay through me. No matter who you are,  _ human _ , no matter what sort of magical enhancement with which you equip yourself, no path that leads through me will ever prevail. I am infinite! I am Gunmar, The Black, The Skullcrusher! And by all the powers of the Darklands, I will have you! _

A resounding “CRACK” echoed through the darklands. And Jim could feel as part of him surrendered, watched as a small light began to percolate from his mouth, towards the mangled blade, leaving him with an ever-growing feeling of emptiness and cold. He was being consumed. His will, his resolve, his spirit, it would soon all be gone, lost to the bottomless hunger of the Dark Underlord and his blade. The edge of the light touched the blade and was absorbed, and with the rest of it soon to follow, Jim leaned back and conceived the last thoughts of his own that he would ever have.

_ I’m sorry. _

_ I’m sorry. _

_ I’m sor- _

A deafening pound shook the ground like thunder, and simultaneously the pull of the Decimar Blade ceased completely. The remainder of his light, not yet devoured, swiftly returned to him and with it, warmth and an overwhelming weariness that anchored Jim’s head to the ground where it lay.

The sound of a roar forced its way through his exhausted and semicomatose.  _ Gunmar _ . He originally suspected, but then a blur of green fur and slate gray skin dashed across his sights, and somewhere through his tunnel hearing, he could pick out a different voice- be it an extremely distressed voice- but a different voice all the same.

“Master Jim!” it boomed. 

_ Blinky,  _ he thought.

With great effort, he managed to turn his head to the place where Gunmar had been and saw the Dark figure of the Underlord, locked in the middle of an engagement with another brutish figure, whose green fur was flying in his frenzy and whose normally dormant glyphs were now glowing with acid green light.  _ Aaarrrgh! _

He attempted to push himself up off the ground but, try as he might, his exhausted arms buckled and gave under his weight. He stared up into the cold gloom of the Darklands with half-lidded eyes. Inky dark splotches tinted the edges his vision, which already had begun a waver in and out of focus. 

Hands wrapped around him, four hands, cradling his body gently. Jim heard vocal tones that he knew should be words, but simply could not comprehend any meaning from them. 

Everything was fuzzy and dim and obscure and all he knew was that he was  _ tired _ .

And then-

Then, everything was dark, and he knew no more.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Trollhunters discover the fallen Jim.

Claire hated feeling useless.

She and Toby had managed to scale back up the cliff after Jim had disappeared from sight, but when they rolled back on to the ledge, all they found was a massive boulder blocking their path.

“Where’s Jim?” Toby asked what they both were thinking, “He was just here, right? Like, just now, wasn't he? He should still be here, right?”  

A scream tore out from behind the boulder, it's tones cracking with agony. _Jim._

_“_ Jim!” Claire had called,“Jim! Hold on!”

She approached the stone blocking their path, scouring its edges for a way around. Her search, however, was interrupted. A groan rose up from beneath the rock and Claire spotted a trembling hand poke out from underneath its surface.

“Here….” A voice wheezed from below. Claire crouched, ducking down to get a better look.

“Miss Nomura!” Claire cried, immediately grabbing hold of the changeling’s hand and giving a tug. “T.P.! Give me a hand!”

Together, they managed to pull Nomura out from the small crevice where she was wedged, but upon her release, she collapsed, crying out clutching her leg. Claire noticed an angry swelling at her shin.

“I think it’s broken,” she said, wrapping an arm around Nomura and helping her to her feet as Toby did the same.

“You think?” Nomura’s voice dripped with snark.

Another scream ripped through the air from afar.

"Jim…"

“Don’t,” Nomura severed Claire’s thought before it began.

“But he’s in trouble! He needs our help!”

“Yeah!” Toby agreed, “If Jimbo’s in trouble then we’re going to save him, no matter what!”

“You forget that he is facing the darkest and most powerful threat in our world and others-”

“All the more reason for us to go help!” Claire snapped.

“And exactly what help do you to intend to give?” Nomura challenged, “I am injured beyond the ability to walk and You are but two fleshbag children, both unarmed and virtually useless in battle as you are! So tell me, just how do you intend to give any sort of assistance to the Trollhunter?!”

Claire paused. She opened her mouth to rebut, but any response she had thought of died on her tongue. What _would_ they be able to do? Sure, they could find a way around the boulder and face Gunmar to help Jim, but what good would that really do? She and Toby had left their weapons back in Arcadia at the behest of Kanjigar, and in Nomura’s condition her scimitar would be about as useful in her hands as it would be in either of the human’s possession.

“Claire?” Toby asked, turning worried eyes to face her, “What’s our move?”

Claire wracked her brain of some way they could come to Jim’s aid, but came up with nothing. She sighed. Nomura was right. In their current state, they were completely and utterly useless.

And she hated feeling useless.

  


Something exploded.

Or at least, it seemed as if something exploded.

The ground beneath them shook. Toby and Claire’s legs wobbled, which, with the added imbalance of Nomura leaning on them, sent all three tumbling to the ground. They all sat up, groaning.

“What the heck was that?!” said Toby, pulling himself out from the bottom of their chaotic dog-pile. He received his answer in the form of a beastly roar which both he and Claire recognized immediately.

“Aaarrrgh!”

Another roar resonated from behind the stone. Toby scrambled to his feet and began to push against the boulder with all his might.

“Wingman!” he cried, throwing his weight against the dark mineral. He turned to Claire and Nomura, “Help me!”

“Now we have two friends stuck over there facing the ‘darkest and most powerful threat in our world’.” said Claire, her gaze aimed pointedly at Nomura. The changeling grumbled, avoiding Claire’s eye. The thunderous sounds of struggle echoed through the chilling air of the Darklands, accented with the sorts of inhuman noises that only come from troll combat.

“Master Jim!” A third voice joined the cacophony on the other side.

“Make that three,” Claire corrected.

For a few moments the two women stood, locked in an unspoken battle of wills. Toby stared from where he stood, watching them face off. Then, finally, Nomura deflated, groaning.

“Fine,” she yielded, sheathing her sword onto her back and limping toward the children, “I hope for both your sake and mine that you know what you’re doing.”

The three of them began to push against the stone. On the other side, the din of the unseen battle reached a worrying climax.

“Come on…. come on….” Claire heard Toby quietly chanting between heaving breaths, “Come on! BUUUUUDGE!”

Slowly, the rock began skid across the ledge. The grinding hiss of stone against stone whispered through the air, mixing together with the heavy breathing of the laboring trio. It didn’t move far, only a foot or two at most, but that was just as far as it had gotten before Toby bolted from his spot to the small gap that their efforts had left.

“Shouldn't we open up the space a bit more before you attempt passage, fleshbag?” Nomura asked flatly.

“I’ll fit,” Toby shot back in a similar tone, “Diet.”

And fit he did, albeit with some pause at the beginning as he maneuvered himself to a strafe at the narrow opening before continuing on through. Claire and Nomura followed with less difficulty, Nomura supporting herself on one foot against the walls of the path to spare her injured leg.

What they beheld on the other side was utter chaos.

On one side was Gunmar and Aaarrrgh, horns tangled, slobber and fur flying, and sigils glowing furiously, toward which Toby took off without hesitation. On the other, Blinky knelt on the ground, his back obscuring the form of another before him, though Claire had a clear idea of who it was. She took an apprehensive step closer, fearful of what she would find. A step turned to several steps, which turned into a pace which only quickened as Claire drew near, spurred on by her need to see the boy which she and the Trollhunters had risked everything to find.

_Please be alive... Please be okay..._

Her heart pounded louder in her ears the closer she came and her mind began to conjure up horrific images of fates that could have befallen Jim in the three minutes that he had been out of sight- bloody wounds frothing with gore; a pale lifeless cadaver, with eyes that did not blink when she met them, a face that did not give a smile in return for her own, but stared blankly at nothing, and hands that did not grip back when she held them within her own, growing cold beneath her flesh- all of these came flashing before her eyes as she rushed forward. But before she could even get a clear glimpse of him, an arm of slate-blue stone raised to stop her, giving a wind-knocking blow to her belly as she ran headlong into it.

“Fear not, Claire Nuñez,” Blinky said from over his shoulder without breaking his gaze from the half-hidden form he held, “He lives.”

Claire sighed, though whether it was from the relief or the blow to her gut, she had yet to determine.

“So… So he’s okay...” she said, sagging with the releasing tension. For just a moment a smile graced her lips.

“Alas,” came the somber reply, “I wish it were so.”

Claire felt the tension of anxiety fill her all over again. She straightened herself and carefully navigated around Blinky’s arm to see in front.

Jim lay very still in Blinky’s arms. His eyes were closed, thankfully unlike Claire’s fears. His face had about as much color left in it as was to be expected of one who has spent weeks in a cesspool of decay. And most important of all, despite his appearance of lifelessness, even Claire could spot the subtle rise and fall of his shoulders as air passed through his body. He was, for all intents and purposes, alive. But Claire noticed that it wasn’t upon Jim’s face that all six of Blinky’s eyes were fixed. Claire followed his gaze to Jim’s chest and only then began to notice what damage may have really been done.

A large slash had split Jim’s breastplate.

It started from his throat, curving downwards from his collar down the plate's middle, and stopping just at the center of his chest. The seams of the armor flickered sparastically, tinting Blinky’s blue skin with angry crimson light. Claire gaped at the strange, pulsating glow. It was as if the armor itself was moaning in pain.

“The armor…” That was all she could manage, “The armor- it. It-”

“Jim!” Claire spun around to see Toby fast approaching with Aaarrrgh not far behind.

“Tobias!” Blinky exclaimed, finally tearing his eyes away from Jim, “Aaarrrgh! What of Gunmar?”

“Back there…” came Aaarrrgh’s rumbling response, pointing behind towards a towering pile of rubble from which the fingertips of a dark hand emerged, “Won't hold long…,” he continued, “Should go….•

“Jimbo!” Toby had arrived. He dropped to his knees, sliding to a stop at his friend’s side, “What happened? What’s wrong with him?”

“Blinky…?” Aaarrrgh glanced worriedly at his companion. Toby and Claire joined him, awaiting an answer.

“I…” Blinky began. He trailed off, scouring the body of the boy in his arms, the gaping opening in his armor. Claire could almost see the pages of every book that the troll had ever read pass before his eyes as he tried to recall some obscure trace of wisdom that could possibly guide them. Something. _Anything…_

“I’m sorry,” he finally said, a look of distraught disappointment staining his face, “I'm sorry. I- I do not know.”

The sound of shuffling stone pulled their attention away. Beneath the pile of rock across the ledge, black fingers began to twitch.

“Should go…” Aaarrrgh said.

“Indeed,” agreed Blinky, pulling himself out of his shaken stupor and hoisting Jim up off the ground, “Time is of the essence, in more ways than one. We must make haste. Aaarrrgh, if you please.”

With a gentle hand, Aaarrrgh scooped the limp body out of Blinky’s arms . He made to place it upon his head when yet another surprise came barreling over the edge of another cliff and triumphantly to the ground next to them.

The screech of brakes pierced the air and the tarnished chassis of the Gyre illuminated with sparks as it skidded to a halt. A blue head poked out of the still-spinning machinery as its whirring gears and cogs came to idle.

“Need a lift?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaand I'm back! This seems to have gotten pretty good reception so far, so I guess a second chapter is in order. I don't plan to do perspective shifts very often in this, but I wanted to explore some of the internal emotions and reactions of the other characters in this kind of situation (and also I'd rather not do the whole "Jim wakes up and has to have everything that happened explained to him" thing, since that can get boring and needless exposition is no fun to write).  
> Leave a Kudos or a comment if you so wish. It definitely would make my day if you did. Hope you enjoyed!  
> ~Em :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jim wakes up.

_Light and warmth. Even in the heavy stupor of his unconscious mind, Jim felt the sweet embrace of warmth._

 

_It comforted him, and consoled him with its alien and yet oddly familiar sensation. It reminded him of the rare days when temperatures in Arcadia dropped below fifty degrees and he and his mother curled up beneath his grandmother’s old quilt; of rainy afternoons spent playing video games in Toby’s cozy attic-bedroom; of light radiating on his cheeks as he, Toby, Claire, and Blinky had stood atop Arcadia Ridge, enjoying Blinky’s first day in the sun._

_That was the day he had met Angor Rot._

_Jim flinched as his sanctuary was pierced by a sudden chill, the light before his eyes tarnished with droplets of inky black._

_They had started to search for the Triumbric Stones. He had become the prey of Angor Rot. The dark splotches grew, their insidious stains gaining momentum. Jim shivered as the chill around him deepened to a freezing cold._  
_Mom had gotten hurt. And little gnome Chompsky had returned from his expedition, bearing Gunmar’s ultimatum. And Enrique… And Aaarrrgh…_

_He saw nothing now, everything swallowed into the black jaws of shadow._

_It was his fault. It was his responsibility as the Trollhunter to protect them all and he had failed. He hadn’t been able to protect them… It was his fault… It was all his fault-_

_“Trollhunter…”_

_Jim whirled around, blinking blindly into the darkness that enveloped him. A deep, raspy laugh echoed around him, and he shivered again as it sent cold air over his skin._

_“I feel you, Trollhunter... “ said the voice, “I smell your stink. I hear your breath.”_

_Jim spun about, searching frantically for the source of the resounding words._

_“Who’s there?” He cried, attempting to purge his voice of its cracking tones. Maybe that way, he would be able to conceal his terror._

_“You are afraid,” the voice chuckled, “I can feel it. You demand to see me. And yet you fear what you may find.”_

_“I’m not afraid of you,” Jim said. But his beating heart and shaking hands betrayed his words. His head whirled, finding only the pitch black of the void. The sound of pounding steps met his ears, each thunderous footfall sending a pulse fear through him as they became ever louder. As they came ever closer._

_And yet he still saw nothing._

_“Did you think that you could escape me, Trollhunter?”_

_The voice was so close now. It’s dark, growling tones were so familiar, but from where, Jim couldn’t remember. A breath rushed past him from behind, beastly and cold. Then something closed around his throat. Jagged edges of frayed ivory and stone scratched at the skin of his neck. Jim felt himself gasp desperately for air as his feet left the ground._

_“I suppose it would be a mercy for you to know now,”_

_The grip tightened. Blind and breathless, Jim tried to pry open the claw that held him. But in the end he ran out of air and his arms dropped back to his sides, which only seemed to amuse the voice more._

_“That you can never hide from me again…”_

***************

Jim woke in a cold sweat. The rhythmic pounding of his heart filled his ears. His chest heaved in time with his gasping breaths. He whipped his head around, his sleep-blurred eyes searching frantically but finding nothing. What had happened? A hand raised tentatively to his neck, where a phantom of a claw still crushed his throat in its unyielding grip.  
He shuddered at the faint recollection of his dream -had it been a dream?- which now rapidly ebbed from his memory, and shook his head, as if by doing so, he might be able to help rid himself of it. A muted snore pulled his attention away and he turned, only now becoming fully aware of where exactly he was.

At the mouth of the Heartstone’s Healing Dwell, Claire and Toby lay, piled upon a monstrous pelt of green fur. Aaarrrgh breathed steadily, a small bubble growing and shrinking from his nose as he rumbled in his sleep. Toby had sprawled out on Aaarrrgh’s back. Jim recognized the slight whistle of air that passed through his braces, a noise that had kept Jim awake over countless nights spent at his house. Claire had curled herself into the small crook of Aaarrrgh’s elbow, her hand gripping softly at the fur on the Troll’s shoulder. A small smile graced her lips as she dreamed. Jim couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face as he looked upon the three of them resting.

_But is this real?_

Jim also couldn't help the doubt that whispered into his ear. Of course it was real, he told himself, annoyed that his anxious brain just couldn’t let him have this. He knew it was real. How could it not be real?

_You only know what’s in front of you. And you should know by know that when it comes to Trolls..._

“You can't always trust what you see.” he muttered, remembering the terrifying illusions of the Pixies. It was true. For all he knew, this could all just be another torture conjured by Gunmar or Dictatious to compel him to remove his armor, breaking his will with deceptive visions of that which he held most dear.

 _I’ll prove it, then_ , said another voice, hardened and determined. _I'll prove this is real_. He resolved this to himself as he moved his legs over the side of the stone slab on which he had awakened, and slowly lowered himself to the ground.

  
Everything hurt.

From his aching shoulders and arms to his skinny calves and thighs, every inch, every nerve wailed with pain as his exhausted body took on his full weight to stand. His head spun nauseously, and for a moment he wasn’t sure whether he would throw up, pass out, or both. Putting a hand out behind him, he caught himself before he could fall, blinking away the dark splotches that appeared at the corners of his sight. He felt, despite having just woken up, utterly drained. He shouldn’t have gotten up, and he knew it.

And yet he took a step forward, spurred on by the need to prove himself wrong. It had to be real. They had to be real.  
He crossed the room, one limping step at a time. All the while, he held back cries and moans as his limbs continued to protest. But now there was a burning fire behind him, a yearning, that pushed him to move. He was so close now. Claire’s tranquil form lay just barely within reach. Jim stretched out a shaking hand, towards Claire’s round, soft cheek…

  
He stopped. His fingertips hovered a hair's-breadth away from her face, so close that he could almost feel the natural warmth radiating from her. Almost.

 _What if it’s not real?_ The thought occurred. _Then all this will just disappear and you’ll just wake up back in the Darklands, to be thrown back into whatever Hell they have planned for you there. Do you really want to go back?_  
His fingers bent, just a little, recoiling an inch from the sleeping girl.

_Do you really want to give this up?_

He sighed.

“No,” he said, “I don’t.”

Looking down, he clenched his hand and opened it again. Water blurred his eyes as he steeled himself for the inevitable.

“I want to get this back.”

He closed his eyes and reached.

Fingers touched skin. Jim gasped and pulled his hand away, stunned.

It was warm. Warm like nothing that Jim remembered touching.

It was like not the warmth of a desperate campfire, made to ward off the suffocating darkness. It was not the warmth of sweat beaded on his forehead as he ran from some feral creature out for his blood. It wasn’t even the warmth of his old memories, called upon to distract him from the cold that swallowed him, hour by hour, minute by minute. It was a swelling, filling heat that quickly ran from his fingers through his arm and into the rest of his body. It was not the warmth of the Darklands. It was the warmth of home. And it was real.

stirred. A deep sigh rose from her waking form and just the slightest twitch of her lips could be seen from where Jim crouched. He flinched as her eyelids fluttered before slowly rising and clouded auburn eyes focus fell upon him. She squinted for a moment, as if trying to compel her sleep-muddled brain into cognitive function. A small smile played across her lips as she slowly recognized the face she was staring at.

“Hi, Jim,” her voice floated.

Jim could feel his breath hitch. She was real. She was really real. She wasn't going to disappear. For weeks, months, he had dreamed of seeing her again. And now here she was, real and alive! The hand that he had pulled to his chest reached out once again, all of its original hesitance lost, and gently laid it’s fingers against Claire’s cheek.

“Hey, Claire,” he said, trying hard to steady his voice as hot tears slid down his face.

He watched the fog clear from her eyes, as she registered his response, his voice. He saw a light spark within them, and her lips broke into a bright grin.

“Jim!”

Then he was on the floor and she was on top of him, her arms clenching tightly around the back of his neck, and her face buried into his shoulder. It really hurt, and Jim probably would have cried out, were it not for the fact that, with Claire so close, his nose was pressed into her dark, thick hair. Jim sighed, breathing in the scent that wafted up from her locks. Spices and Soap. Something he hadn’t smelt in a very long time. He realized then that Claire was speaking, her voice muffled into Jim’s shirt.

“-and the Tribunal said you were already gone! But we knew, we knew that you couldn’t be! And Kanjigar said that if we didn’t do things right we would lose you forever and we lost sight of you in the Darklands and there was a boulder in the way and Blinky found you and you weren’t moving and we thought- I thought-”

“Claire.”

She looked up. Her cheeks were stained with tears.

Jim opened his mouth to speak and closed it again. What was he supposed to say? He had already made her cry. And he certainly didn’t want to accidentally upset her even more. So, he stared, his mouth gaping like a dying fish, as he tried -and failed- to think of something delicate to say.

“Jim?”

Turning, Jim caught sight of Toby. Great tufts of green troll-shed clung to the round boy as he sat up and slid gracelessly off of the back of the still slumbering Aaarrrgh. He rubbed his face and looked again at Jim. Then recognition shined into his eyes, just as brightly as the light of the Heartstone glinted off of his braces.

  
“Jimbo!”

Jim found himself in the air, a pair of arms squeezing around his middle, as Toby leapt up and scooped his friend up into a bear hug. The pressure at waist erupted into starbursts of agony. But he grinned, squeezing his friend back around the shoulders and enjoying his subtle aromas. Cat dander and taco meat.

“You’re okay…” Toby said, putting Jim down and studying him with uncertain eyes, as if to check whether he was, in fact, really alright.

Jim smiled. “I'm okay, Tobes.”

Tears welled up in the corners of Toby’s eyes as Jim began again to feel the sting of tears in his own. Surging forward, Toby wrapped his arms once again around his best friend. As soft chuckle left Jim’s lips as water fell freely down his cheeks and off of his chin. He felt Claire’s wiry form next to him as she did the same, joining their embrace.

It still hurt. Every touch sent rivulets of anguish through Jim’s body like electricity. But he didn't care, not anymore. He was home. He was with his friends. And if that meant that he had to deal with some pain, he would gladly bear it.

So there, in the middle of the dwell, the three of them stayed, holding tight to one another, and never -not for an instant- did they let each other go. They wept, and laughed, and in that moment, Jim felt as he hadn’t for a very long time.

In that moment, Jim was happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have returned! And I come bearing gifts of Jlaire and happy boy Jim to lighten the mood (along with some Gunmar to keep things interesting...). Sorry for the long wait. Final exams and end-of-year projects have been devouring and continue to devour my soul. I actually finished a version of this chapter two weeks ago and ended up scrapping the whole thing and starting from scratch. So if you want something to blame, blame it on my desire to share only the best writing I can manage to you all.
> 
> In other news, did you guys see season 3?! I actually set an alarm of 3 am -since I am an East Coast heathen who couldn't actually see it at midnight- so that I could watch the new episodes when they updated. And, Oh My Goodness, am I glad I did! This season was FANTASTIC! From Morgana, to Merlin, to Draal :(, to actual, hecking, CANON TROLL!JIM, everything from this season just blew me away. I could honestly go on for several pages enthusing about how great it was. I'm actually a bit tentative to mess with any troll!Jim stuff now, just because I'm so satisfied with the way that they did it in the actual show. It was all just so amazing, I can't- kfjhfkjhasifuahdsfjsda
> 
> Getting back on track, I really hope you like this chapter! If you did, leave a Kudo's, comment, subscribe or whatever it is you do on this site to show some love. I would most assuredly appreciate it! Thank you all so much for reading and for your patience with my wonky update schedule as I truck into chapter 4!
> 
> Until next time!  
> ~Em


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jim gets a fill-in on what's been going on in Arcadia and Trollmarket.

“So, wait. You’re saying you found the headquarters to an underground changeling organization, to save Aaarrrgh… with your headgear?”

“Yeah, man! The stupid metal wiring picked up their secret radio signal!” said Toby, practically bursting with his excitement at telling the story of his and Claire’s escapade into the Janus Order.

Jim shook his head, sitting cross-legged on the floor of the examination dwell, where he, Tobes, and Claire had been for the past hour-and-a-half as the two of them caught him up on the goings-on in Arcadia and Trollmarket that had transpired while he had been gone. Naturally, his first order of business had been to ask just how on Earth Aaarrrgh was alive, which had led to this fantastic -if not bizarre- story of changelings, potions, and secret subterranean hideouts beneath the Arcadia travel agency. Though, after all Jim had seen since he left, the only wonder he still had was just how Arcadia managed to not collapse into a massive sinkhole with so many hidden settlements hollowing out the ground below it. 

But he kept those thoughts to himself and listened intently to their story. “And you didn't get caught?”

From her seat next to him Claire gave a guilty chuckle. “Well…”

“Yeah, we probably shouldn't have assumed that we didn't raise any alarms by getting in through one of their main entrances.” Toby gave the back of his head a sheepish scratch. “After that we met their head honcho; this little German dude, totally creepy. Oh! And he was a special type of changeling! A… what was it called?”

“Polymorph,” Claire supplied.

“Yeah, that.”

“He was like a changeling,” she continued, “but he could take the form of anyone. He turned into NotEnrique. It was... unsettling.”

“You know what was also unsettling, Claire?” Toby grumbled under his breath, “Being in the designated torture chair.”

Jim blanched. “They were going to torture you?!”

“Nah. They just wanted to take off my headgear so we couldn't listen to their radio signals anymore,’ Toby explained. “They actually ended up offering us a recipe to an antidote to save Aaarrrgh. Before throwing us out.”

“An antidote? Why would they want to do anything to help?”

“They didn't,” said Claire, a sharp bitterness on her tongue, “They just used Aaarrrgh to get us to steal Vendel’s staff for them.”

“You stole from Vendel?!”

He flinched as Toby and Claire drowned out his exclamation with a cascade of frantic shushes. He remembered Aaarrrgh sleeping.

“It was the only way we could save Aaarrrgh,” said Toby.

“And the only way we could’ve gotten into the Darklands to find you,” Claire added. Which brought a question to mind that, admittedly, Jim probably should have asked first. 

“How  _ did _ you find me?” he asked. His words were slow, contemplating. “The bridge was closed. Only a Trollhunter can open it, but-”

“Well, technically a Trollhunter did open it.”

Jim blinked. “I don’t understand.”

Claire and Toby exchanged glances, as if hesitant to decide who would reveal their news. Claire spoke first.

“Kanjigar let us in.”

“What?” Jim whispered, “But that doesn’t make sense. All of the fallen Trollhunters are in the Void. How did he-?”

“Through Aaarrrgh.” said Toby.

All eyes fell upon the pile of fur and stone in the corner of the dwell. Aaarrrgh’s peaceful snores filled the empty hush in the room.

“The Tribunal had destroyed the bridge,” Claire began. “We were trying to figure out some way that we could get into the Darklands and save you, when the amulet started glowing. It attached itself to Aaarrrgh’s chest and said that that he was the key to finding you. When we managed to bring him back, he disappeared into the Void.”

With every word, Jim felt his eyes widen even further. It wasn’t possible. Only trollhunters could enter the Void. It was a surprise when he, even being one of the Amulet’s chosen, was granted passage into it’s mysterious depths. Did that mean that Aaarrrgh was an official Trollhunter now? Had there ever been two Trollhunters in the same life-span before? Or did this mean that Aaarrrgh had replaced-

It wasn’t until he felt Toby’s hand on his shoulder that Jim realized he had fallen into a rabbit hole of thought and that Claire had stopped her account to glance worryingly at him. Looking over, he accepted a heartening smile from his best friend and returned one in kind. 

“It’s okay,” he reassured the both of them, “I’m okay.”

“Great Gorgus! He’s awake!”

Turning, Jim spotted Blinky at the mouth of the Dwell, hurrying inside on short, stone legs, alongside Vendel.

“Master Jim!” he exclaimed. Slowly rising onto wobbly legs, Jim recieved a gentle four-armed hug from the troll, before Blinky pulled him back to arm’s length, looking him over with astonished mirth. “You are alive!”

“Alive and standing,” mused Vendel, brows raised in mild surprise, “When these four brought you here, you seemed upon the brink of death, and yet here you stand. You fleshbags never cease to amaze with your feats of boundless resilience.”

He poked lightly into Jim’s fleshy middle with the end of his gnarled wooden staff. A burst of pain erupted at the touch and Jim gasped, clutching at the point where the staff had made contact as his weakened legs gave and he dropped down to a knee. There was probably a bruised rib somewhere in there. Maybe two. 

“Apparently, not as incredibly boundless as we would hope,” said Blinky as he helped Jim back to his feet and turned him in the direction of the stone cot, “Come, Master Jim, you must rest.”

“Wait, Blinky,” Jim said, pulling slightly against Blinky’s idle grip, “I’m alright, really. And I still have questions-!”

But he was interrupted when Aaarrrgh stirred. 

With gusting sighs he rose and stretched his broad back and shoulders. He spread wide his jaws, which let his massive purple tongue hang out from between enormous tusks. He shook out his green sleep-matted mane and finally, satisfactorily roused, twisted his neck and laid his eyes upon Jim.

“Jim’s back,” he said, a warm, yet unfazed smile spreading across his face.

“You don't seem very surprised, Aaarrrghamont,” Vendel drawled.

Aaarrrgh shrugged, “Didn't smell like dying. So didn’t have to worry”

Jim, Claire, and Toby exchanged glances. Aaarrrgh could do that?  They had certainly never heard of the ability to predict health by scent, and it didn't seem plausible, even among trolls. However, Vendel and Blinky, seemed quite satisfied with that explanation of the predictive nature of Aaarrrgh’s nose, so they let that assuage their doubts.

Jim freed himself from Blinky’s three-handed hold and took a step forward. He reached out to Aaarrrgh, laying a palm on top of the troll’s oversized index finger, which extended to meet him in the middle. It was rough -as stone ought to be, Jim supposed- but it thrummed with life. He gripped to it tightly, as his eyes met Aaarrrgh’s which glistened merrily in the Heartstone’s glow.

“Welcome back,” said Aaarrrgh.

“You too,” Jim smiled. His eyes wandered over his friend thought lost, and noticed a small circular mark upon the creature’s breast, just the tiniest of indents on his stony skin. Aaarrrgh reached up and laid a hand upon the imprint, which Jim recognized as the same place where the Amulet was inlaid in his Armor.

“Amulet chose backup,” Aaarrrgh said softly. Then added, “Not good as original. But… not bad.”

Jim chuckled softly, “Not bad at all.”

He moved his hand to graze over the circular score upon his friend’s chest. It still was strange to think that Kanjigar had really returned to the flesh to save him, still didn’t seem possible. As far as the Council of Fallen Trollhunters had told him, if he got himself stuck inside the Darklands, there would be nothing they could do from inside the Void. He would die and that would be the end of it. He supposed that the Amulet always had a few extra tricks up it’s metaphorical sleeve. Though that didn’t surprise him in the slightest. The Amulet had never really done what was expected of it, even before the whole fiasco with the Darklands. Just look: it chose a human to protect a world of trolls.

Jim felt his lip twitch at the bitter thought as he dropped his hand down from Aaarrrgh and into his jacket, where the amulet normally lay waiting in his pocket. But he paused, puzzled to find it unsettlingly empty.

“Master Jim? Is something the matter?”

Jim looked up.

“Where is the Amulet?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit, over 1000 hits! Double holy shit, over 100 kudos! Let me start off by saying that I NEVER expected this to get the attention that it has gotten. My other previous work only ever got 20-something hits, tops (though, of course, looking back, can see why. It was pretty bad). And while I had hoped for a bit better reception than that, I never dreamed that this would get as far as it did, and for that I just have you readers to thank. I am just so grateful to have such a supportive and wonderful audience in you guys and I just hope that I can deliver to your expectations in the future.
> 
> I probably should apologize for the lack of action in this chapter. This was a sort of personal itch that I've been meaning to scratch since I watched season 2, when Toby and Claire promised to fill Jim in on stuff and they never really got to it on-screen. I really liked the idea of Claire, Toby, and Jim all just sitting down and talking for hours, telling stories about what went on in Arcadia while Jim was gone. That and the lack of address in the show on Jim's part that Aaarrrgh LITERALLY CAME BACK TO LIFE AND BECAME A VESSEL FOR KANJIGAR TO ALSO SORT OF COME BACK TO LIFE. As for the amulet, you’ll find out what happened with that in Chapter 5, which should be coming sooner than you think…. ;)  
> Leave a Kudos or a Comment if you liked it. Or even if you didn’t, feedback of any sort would be amazing!  
> Until next time!  
> ~Em :)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, what exactly happened to the amulet in the Darklands?

“Where is the Amulet?”

Intent stares became anxious as Jim looked around the room. Blinky glanced over at Vendel in a way that reminded Jim of how Toby and Claire had exchanged looks before dropping their news of Kanjigar upon him. There was something they weren’t telling him.

“What?” he asked, “What is it?”

An answer came to him with less apprehension than the one from his human companions.

“The Amulet of Daylight has not been put under as much burden as thus since the time of Deya” said Vendel. The old goat reached to a small pouch at his hip and produced a familiar disk of gleaming metal and placed it carefully into Jim’s palm. Jim sighed at its familiar weight and the soft blue light that shined past its quietly spinning arms and ever-whirring gears.  _ Old friend.  _ His fingers ran over its round edges, turning it gently over in his hand.

But they stopped when he saw the crack.

At its back, the normally smooth seams of the gemstone cavities gaped open as a gnarled fracture ran down the Amulet’s middle. Its jagged edge split the little hollows so far as to barely reveal the glittering Triumbric Stones that rested inside. It bent and tore at the metal to the point of nearly disfiguring the trollish glyphs elegantly etched on its surface. It was the mark of something dark. That much Jim knew. And it was ugly.

“Does it… still work?” he asked.

“That,” Vendel said, staring pointedly at Jim with his glassy gaze, “remains to be seen.”

Jim sucked in a breath. Only one way to find out.

“For the doom of…” he began, but then stopped, shaking his head. No. This wasn’t the Darklands. He didn’t need Eclipse here. He had gotten a little tired of the black anyway.  


He started again. “For the Glory of Merlin, Daylight is mine to command.”

Wisps of bright light flooded from the Amulet and flocked around Jim in a brilliant swarm of magic. Magic, which took form and mass. Pauldrons, gauntlets, and greaves,  shining silver and blue, hovered in the air around him and he closed his eyes as he was pulled from the ground with them. The wisps converged. Plates joined other plates and became one. And when the light faded and Jim’s feet returned to the floor, he stood garbed in the Armor of Daylight. He stretched, bending his still aching arms and legs. Man, did it feel good to have this back

But something wasn’t right. Both by the gazes of his friends and an odd feeling in the armor, Jim felt a vulnerability, an exposure, like a draft through an hole in the wall. His eyes wandered down to the armor, as they would search for a stain of spilled guacamole on his shirt.

It wasn't guacamole.

Jim always knew that harm done to the armor always took a toll on the Amulet and vice-versa. But this was way beyond anything he had ever seen. The breastplate was ripped down it's middle, the metal shredded in one ragged, feral tear, the likes of which Jim had only seen on the sides of trees mangled by bears or deer in the woods. 

He lifted his chin as he scanned over the grim, worried expressions of his company. His gaze settled on Blinky, who stood wringing all four of his hands. Jim’s throat clenched painfully, but he spoke nonetheless.

“What happened?”

Blinky gave a shuddering sigh.

“You were separated from us during our egress from the Darklands. When we found you, you had already fallen and the damage to Merlin’s Armor had already been done. We were hoping you would be able to shed some light on matters when you awakened. You were gravely wounded and we feared the worst.”

“Wounded?” Jim echoed dumbly. How had that happened? He remembered the Darklands, remembered fighting Nomura, his friends’ miraculous arrival, the frantic chase through the Darklands, Nomura’s battle with Gunmar, the cliff, the sword…

Something deep within Jim’s chest clenched. That was it.

“His Blade,” he blurted, quickly drawing back the confused attention of the room.

“I beg your pardon, Master Jim?”

“Gunmar’s blade. He came after us... and Nomura tried to fight him,” he elaborated, walking himself through the memory as he went. “But, he threw her off and then… Then he summoned a blade…”

“He invoked the Decimar Blade?” said Vendel, milky eyes widened with shock, or awe, or some twisted mixture of both.

“The what?” Claire’s voice perked up from beside Jim.

“The Decimar Blade,” Blinky clarified, “The weapon of choice for Gunmar, gifted to him centuries ago…”

He continued on but Jim wasn't listening. He didn’t need an explanation to know what the sword did. He had seen enough. The image of the Gumm-Gumm soldier that he had managed to overpower, begging, pleading before the seat of its master. The malicious grin that spread across Gunmar’s face as he called upon the marred sword and ripped his loyal servant’s will and spirit out of its body. The limp complacency of the newly-made puppet as it opened the grate down into the chasm of Nyarlagroths and -just as unfeelingly- tossed itself in. That sword didn’t just enslave the mind, it devoured it, replacing the empty husk that remained solely with the will of Gunmar. But if that were the case, and he had really met the might of Gunmar’s wretched magic, then-

“But if Gunmar really used the blade on Jim,” Toby’s voice brought him back to surface, “then how come he isn't, y’know, a Gumm Gumm zombie, like all those guys back in the Darklands?”

“An appropriate query,  though one for which I have not had enough time in my library to find an answer.”

“He said he needed to break my will,” Jim said slowly, rubbing circles into his temple, “Or the armor… Or… both? It didn’t really make much sense…”

“Well, he seems to have succeeded in at least one of his endeavors.” Vendel prodded at the tear, only flinching a little when a couple blue sparks flew from where his white marble finger met the chestplate. “This could be catastrophic for Troll-kind.”

Jim dispelled the armor and caught the amulet as it dropped into his open palm. He studied the crack worriedly. Sure, he thought bitterly. Classic Jim: First Trollhunter to break the Amulet. 

“Worry not, Master Jim,” said Blinky, seemingly having read Jim’s mind and having laid two arms over Jim shoulders. “I am certain that a way to mend the amulet exists. And if any are capable of finding it, it is us.”

Jim glanced up at Blinky and, meeting the determined grin of his mentor, nodded.

“But for now, you should rest and heal. Believe it or not, it is quite late. Tomorrow, you return to the realm of mankind.”

With that, Jim let himself be led back to the stone cot by Blinky’s guiding hands. He waved goodbye as Aaarrrgh and Vendel departed with Toby and Claire, who, now that they were sure that Jim would be alright, were finally starting to realize just how exhausted they had become from staying up to watch over him. He sat himself on the Trollish bed and accepted help from Blinky to lift his battered legs up along with him. He then laid down upon the soft furs that covered the cot’s surface. 

Weariness came faster to him than he would have expected, considering he had been asleep for as long as he had, only and hour or two ago. But, he supposed, nearly dying in a cold, unforgiving hellscape could do that sort of thing to a guy. Resisting the fatigue that came over him -as if he had even tried to do so in the first place- was proven even more futile as he felt a blanket be pulled up over his shoulders, wrapping him a soft cocoon of warmth. And so, floating peacefully in his half-conscious bliss, Jim slept.

  
  


************

 

_ When Jim opened his eyes, it was only to a chilling darkness, one that suffocated him, taking him tightly in it's grip and swallowing everything into its inky shroud. He felt himself erupt into shivers as he stood, shaking in it's freezing embrace.  _

_ He could not see- that much was evident, having shaken a hand in front of his face and yet only beholding the same black nothingness which dominated the rest of his view. Though, while his blindness was troubling to say the least, he did not find it to be entirely unfamiliar.  _

_ “H-hello?” he called through chattering teeth. His voice echoed, on and on into the infinite darkness.  “Anyone here?” _

_ A freezing wall of air swept around Jim, sapping what little heat he had left in him, pulling it from every crack and crevice of his being. He clutched at his shoulders with shivering hands to try and stave off the cold, in vain, and among the whispers of the wind, a rumbling snarl crackled on the air, chilling Jim’s blood to couple the frost that already clung to his limbs. The growl then took on tones and became a voice. _

_ “How strange…” it said, its volume resounding painfully in Jim’s ears, “Only mere moments, it seems, and the Trollhunter has already come back to me…” _

_ “Back?” Jim repeated, “But that doesn’t… I’ve never… Who are you?” _

_ He then flinched, covering his ears as the voice erupted into a bellowing roar of… could he even call it laughter? Its sound circled Jim, sending him spinning to try and face it, around and around, as though he were standing atop a turntable. Even as the laughter ceased and words resumed, it did not stop its orbit around the shaking and now dizzy boy. _

_ “You don’t even remember?” it chuckled with an amused wonder that made Jim feel uncomfortably like a creature on display. _

_ “Remember what?” Jim asked, then again, “Who are you?” _

_ But the voice continued on, as if Jim had not even spoken. “Perhaps your feeble fleshbag mind simply could not handle the knowledge of my presence within your conscious. Maybe that worthless shell actually managed to save enough of your will for you to defy my magics...” _

_ Jim had to admit that while he couldn’t name the source of the disembodied voice, it was hauntingly familiar to him, like a faded memory of years past, or a half-forgotten dream.  His head began to ache as he wracked his brain for a name, a face. But the harder he tried to remember, the further away the answer slipped and the harder the pain throbbed in his skull. The unseen ground beneath him seemed to lurch and he groaned, stumbling uneasily over his feet. _

_ “Are you unwell, Little Hunter?” the voice taunted, dripping with amusement at Jim’s strife. “Maybe it would be best for me to allow you a reprieve. Let you lick your wounds before I rip them open again. It would at least be far more satisfying…” _

_ The ache began to fade a bit, allowing for Jim to regain his wits. The voice and its presence seemed to withdraw from him which, though seemingly allowing for his pain to recede, also left him feeling cold, numb, and with far more questions than he could voice all at once. _

_ “Wait…” he said, raising his head in the direction where the voiced retreated. _

_ But it only gave a husky chuckle. _

_ “Rest now, Little Hunter,” it said as Jim felt the void swallow him up. “The work waits…” _

************

Reality came surging back to Jim in a torrential flood of senses. He jolted up, sucking in huge gulps of air as his heart pounded in his ears and his now sightful eyes whirled about. He was in the Heartstone, still. The warm orange glow of the walls, served as a nice anchor with which to resituate and reroot himself in the waking world. His fingers wandered over the furs beneath him, exploring their texture while he forced his breaths to slow, for the sake of his still-bruised lungs, if anything. And as his body relaxed his mind began to race. 

What was that place? Who was that voice? It said that he didn’t remember. Had he forgotten something? But before he could begin to conceive any sort of answer to any of those questions, the adrenaline of his sudden awakening began to wane. His limbs suddenly felt heavy and he became aware of how difficult it was to remain upright. He was tired, he knew, and still hurt. He needed sleep. So, as much as he wished to further ponder the freezing void and the words of the bodiless voice, he supposed that it could wait until tomorrow. But even as he sank back into the world of dreams, he heard it, echoing in the deepest corner of his mind.

_ The work waits… _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaayy! Two chapters in one month! I’m on a real roll (I know that’s about double the time most people take to update, but hey, I favor quality over quantity). So yeah, it seems that the amulet is a little out for sorts and our boy Jimmy-Jam has a lot more questions than answers. Slight note, if it wasn’t super clear: Jim does not remember his first encounter in the “dream void”, at least not really well, and he’s really bad at putting two-and-two together when it comes to recognizing the identity of the voice in his dream. Don’t worry, he’s a smart dude, I’m sure he’ll work it out eventually…  
> 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to leave a kudos or a comment below! Or subscribe if you want to know when the the next chapter updates! Any support you give honesty goes a long way. I have to say, writing this for you all has been the most fun I’ve had on this site in a long time, and I’m really glad as a writer that there are people out there who are willing to read what I create. You’re probably getting sick of me thanking you every time I upload. But I think it’s important to let you all know how much I appreciate you guys.  
> 
> 
> Until next time!  
> 
> 
> ~Em :)


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jim returns to life in Arcadia.

It had been the strangest whirlwind of a morning Jim had ever experienced. And, considering that for the past few months he had spent most mornings taking quick stops to an underground city of trolls before school, that was saying something.

He woke moderately refreshed, if not slightly sore in the back from the stone examination table that he had used as a bed, and slowly stirred from his grogginess as Vendel gave him another thorough look-through; poking, prodding, the whole procedure. The night’s rest had done a surprising amount of good, despite a few strange, half-remembered nightmares. His limbs no longer ached or burned and he could walk around with no problem. His chest, however, was still in a lot of pain and upon further examination, Vendel concluded that he had two cracked ribs.

“I'm afraid rest and time are the only thing that will help you recover, Trollhunter,” the old goat had remarked as he finished the bandage wrap around Jim’s chest. “Still, it could be worse.”

“Yeah.” Jim had agreed, carefully slipping on his shirt and almost adding aloud: _I could be dead._

Toby and Claire arrived with Blinky and Aaarrrgh, bringing with them a school bag full of folders and textbooks. Toby seemed pretty glad to be rid of them -along with the wooden Glamour Mask that he carried along with him, which he promptly tossed to Vendel- and for once in his life Jim could say that he was happy, _excited_ even, to take back the schoolwork, algebra and spanish textbooks alike. It was admittedly a lot easier to tolerate the hassles of high school when he knew that the alternative was fighting for his life inside a hellscape pocket dimension. 

Blinky was buried in studies of his own, having spent most of the night scouring through every available tome and scroll in his library for information on the Amulet, or so Claire had told Jim. Aaarrrgh had managed to drag him out to see Jim and the rest off for the morning, but it hadn’t been before he had grabbed one book with each hand, through which he paged frantically, his eyes running over each line of text as he muttered unintelligible things to himself under his breath.

“Been like this all night,” Aaarrrgh had said to the Jim and the rest of the gang, “Scary when like this.”

“Just make sure he gets some rest.” Jim said, replacing the textbooks into his bag and gently shrugging it onto his shoulder.

“Quite an ironic statement coming from you, Master Jim.”  Blinky said, finally lowering two of his books away from his face, “And for the record, simply because I am preoccupied does not mean that I am deaf.

“Sorry.” Jim gave a little chuckle, as Blinky then replaced the books to their positions in front of his nose.

“So have you found anything?” Toby asked, peeking over Blinky’s shoulder.

“Oh, yes I’ve found many many things,” Blinky’s voice was muffled from behind his wall of literature, “As for how much of it is helpful…” he sighed. “The creation of Merlin’s amulet is a mystery and it’s maker long passed. I’m afraid this puzzle will take much time and effort to solve.”

Jim could feel the weight of the Amulet still in his pocket from the previous night. His hand lowered down to brush the cool edge of its surface. He cringed a little when the crack in the metal scraped at his fingers as they passed over it. He stopped a moment, thinking, and then pulled it out and held it out to Blinky.

“Maybe… you should hold onto this, Blink,” he said, then added, “For research.”

_And for safekeeping_ , he thought sourly, _since I couldn’t go a couple of months without breaking the damn thing._

“Master Jim,” Blinky said, backing away from Jim’s offering, “I could never dream of separating a Trollhunter from his Amulet. Besides…” Quickly snatching it out of Jim’s palm, he hurled the amulet away out of sight. No sooner had it disappeared over the top of Trollmarket’s bazaar, it returned, whizzing through the air as an almost magnetic pull guided it back into Jim’s hand. Blinky smiled. “I doubt that I would be able to even if I possessed the inclination to try.”

Aarrrgh and Blinky accompanied them up the Crystal stairs all the way to the surface. Toby removed a Horngazel from his bag and traced a doorway into the wall ahead, before stepping back with a look to Jim.

“You wanna do the honors, Jimbo?” A hearty smile spread across his lips.

Jim nodded and reached with a hand. He could feel his heart quicken in his chest. He was going outside, with his friends, to school. He had never thought he’d ever go to school again. He was going to see the sun again, feel its warmth on his face. He hadn’t thought he would be able to do that again either. How funny Fate could be sometimes. Part of him wondered if it would feel different from before, if it would be as good as he had imagined so many times, curled up, cold and alone in some grim corner of the Darklands or sprawled, exhausted upon the floor of Gunmar’s prison. He couldn’t imagine that any reality could possibly meet the staggering expectations of his desperate fantasies. But, considering, he decided that it didn’t really matter whether or not it felt as good, since no matter how he ever looked at it, he would choose the real thing over his daydreams any day.

He grinned and pressed his hand against the stone, watching it give way against his touch.

He was going back outside.

He was going home.

*************

He didn’t really know what he had hoped for, stepping back onto school grounds for the first time in, well, awhile. But a standing ovation was definitely not very high on his list of expectations.

Raucous cheers followed him at every side as he tried to weave his way through to his locker. What the heck was going on? Had he won something? No, he couldn’t have, he hadn’t even been there. So what-

“Jim! You’re back!”

Before he could register, a pair of scrawny arms had wrapped over his neck and across his shoulders. A disheveled mess of hair tickled at his nose and it was only after he had tipped his head at an odd angle that he recognized the button nose and thick rimmed glasses of Eli Pepperjack.

“You’re alive!”

Wait. ‘Alive’?

“‘Back’?”, he leaned over to Claire. “They know?”

“They know you’re the very first to be officially cured from the incurable Jim Lake Disease,” Toby chuckled.

Ohhhh…. So that was the story that they had told everyone. Jim could feel some unnoticed tension in his spine relax.

“Jim, you’re a walking medical mystery!” said Claire, smiling in a way that from the perspective of an onlooker, Jim supposed, could be interpreted as relief or joy for a recovered friend. Of course he knew better. He had been playing their game of stories and excuses long enough to appreciate a well crafted alibi. He was only surprised that Claire and Tobes had managed to pull it off.

Eli was still clinging to his neck and a dull ache was starting to grow in his neck. He glanced to Tobes.

“Uhhhhh…”

“Well!” Tobes stepped in to his rescue, “Still could be contagious.” He slipped his hands between Jim and Eli, parting the distance between the two. “Best move along, Eli.”

“Bye, Jim!” Eli offered a parting wave, “I’m gonna go wash my hands now.”

With that, he wandered off and and the crowd began to disperse. Leaving the three in peace.

Albeit, a peace which lasted a total of two seconds.

“Look who’s back!”

A harsh shove knocked Jim off of his balance. His bag swayed dangerously from his shoulder and one of his textbooks toppled out of a half-open pockets and onto the floor. He reached to grab it but was pulled back by a grip on his shoulders, up and into a face that smelled of sweat and, surprisingly, shampoo? Huh. Jim never really noticed until now how well-groomed and shiny Steve Palchuk’s hair was. Then again, Jim’s focus during encounters with the hulking jock usually rested solely on the locations of his boulder-like fists and not so much his hair. How some time away could change perspective. It seemed that Steve was saying something about homework and fishy things, jabbing a threatening finger into Jim’s chest, but Jim simply could not bring himself to hold any true hate for him. At least, not anymore.

So he smiled and, raising his still-sore arms, he pulled Steve into a hug.

“I even missed you,” he said, as Steve squirmed uncomfortably in the spontaneous embrace. It occurred to Jim how strange it must have seemed for Steve, to be hugged by the guy that he despised and that he knew despised him. However, miraculously, in that moment he did not much care.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, friends! Long time no write. How long has it been? Four months? Ah, ahhahaha…
> 
> Yeah, college applications have been the actual worst time of my life. I hope you all can find it in your hearts to forgive me. But, on the bright side I am now confirmed going to college!... Somewhere. Haven’t quite decided where yet, but it’s definitely happening. Now I just need to keep grades up and survive the rest of high school while scholarship hunting. Should be fun.
> 
> In other news, HAVE YOU GUYS SEEN 3BELOW?!!?! Why am I even asking, of course you have! I haven’t even the words to express how blown away I was by this whole thing, I just- AAAAAGGGGHHHH. It was so fantastic! The effort that goes into the whole Tales of Arcadia series never ceases to amaze me! Especially episode 6. Don’t even get me started on episode 6. I surprisingly found some interesting Jim/Aja dynamics happening that I most certainly did not expect. They seem like they’d really be able to relate to each other, each with their own burden of destiny ahead of them and a whole lot of people to protect. Perhaps I may write something with them as moral support bros (if I ever find the time).
> 
> Well anyways, I hope you like this chapter! I only wish I could put out more of these more quickly. I want to give a massive shout-out to Eclipsia (uncreativefanficwritername) for the rec on Tumblr. If you haven’t read any of her stuff, you should 100% go check it out. It is truly fantastic content (plus her update schedule is a million times better than mine). Thank you guys so much for your patience and your support. I swear, every hit, every kudos, every comment does everything and more to help me work through it all. So, no matter what you do,whatever you chose to do, thank you all so, so much!
> 
> Until next time!
> 
>  
> 
> ~Em ;)


	7. Update! (to be deleted later)

Hello, friends!

So my school’s winter musical has now reached its finality! And, after MONTHS of rehearsals, and a lot of blood, sweat, and tears devoted to the wonders of Theater ™, I now find myself in possession of some free time (gasp! I know, I’m just as surprised as you).

 

Now, having taken this big ol’ break, I started coming back and rereading some the older chapters as well as doing some outlining work to better figure out where I want to take this story (yes, I actually do have an endgame in mind with this). And while I was reading my way down memory lane, I realized that there are several parts of this that I already posted that I realize do NOT line up with where I now want the story to go. Oops.

 

So, while I hate to be one of those “I just took a long ass break and now I’m now going to take another break so I can post retcons of stuff that I already posted” authors, I’d honestly hate more to be one of those authors who loses track of her own story and lets it fly off of the rails simply because she can’t admit when she’s screwed up and doesn’t want to fix it. So, to put it in simpler terms, over the next couple weeks I’ll be going through and “tweaking” my way through these first couple chapters, that way as I post more chapters (which I actually INTEND to do soon, believe it or not) they’ll be able to create a more coherent story as a whole.

 

Thank you guys for your understanding and patience! More updates will be coming soon!

 

~Em ;)


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